The Peter Snowden trained Jerezana has finished off strongly down the outside to win today’s Ramornie Handicap at Grafton Handicap beating home Falco Star in second and race favourite Motspur in third.
Journeyman jockey Andrew Gibbons has made the most of his opportunity with the country’s biggest stable, steering the Darley-owned Jerezana to a comprehensive victory in the Ramornie Handicap at Grafton.
Jerezana was the second successive winner of the 1200m Listed sprint from the Peter Snowden stable with Pinwheel taking the honours last year.
Sent out at $8.50, the four-year-old mare was back in the field early and unleashed her trademark sprint in the straight despite the slow early pace to beat Falco Star ($41) by a length with a short head to the $4.60 favourite Motspur.
The tempo played against topweight and dual Stradbroke winner Black Piranha ($4.80) who finished fifth under 61 kilograms.
But the race panned out beautifully for Jerezana to give the Newcastle-based Gibbons a career highlight.
“It’s my best win by far, it’s fantastic,” Gibbons said.
“I spoke to (jockey) Kerrin McEvoy and Peter Snowden and I had a lot of confidence in what they told me.
“She has an unbelievable last 200 but you can’t push the button too early so I bided my time and it worked out perfectly.”
Just back from a trip to England, Snowden watched the race from the Warwick Farm races and was thrilled with the mare.
“Everything went perfect,” he said.
“It’s a great race to win and to be able to win it twice in a row gives me a big buzz.
“She was able to stay in touch, even at the back of the field she wasn’t that far from them.
“Andrew was able to cut the corner and get to the outside which she likes to do.
“If she can be saved for one short, sharp burst invariably she runs well and that was the case today. Everything just panned out for her.
“She’s been stakes-placed on two occasions so to get a stakes win today is very good.
“She’s not top notch but she’s very honest and she’s done a full campaign.
“She campaigned at Scone then went to Brisbane and then Ipswich and had that debacle there.
“She came home from that and has been here a fortnight and then went up there (Grafton) last night and ran the race of her life today, so she’s a pretty tough horse.”
After winning at Scone in May, Jerezana ran a fair sixth in the Dane Ripper Stakes at Eagle Farm before beating just three home at Ipswich on June 18.
Earlier in the day, Tim Bell began a new phase of his career with victory on Onetimeatbandcamp.
Bell has signed on to be Nathan Tinkler’s retained rider in Queensland for the Patinack Farm operation.
Onetimeatbandcamp races in the colours of Tinkler’s father Les and was recently transferred to Patinack trainer John Thompson.
AAP TURF
